Second Chances
by Piercing Thorn
Summary: If you ever had the chance to go back and set things right, would you? There are no such things as second chances, but one girl will go back to set things right. Crossover: MaixNaru, EdwardxKim


Hey I'm back again! Over vacation week I watched Edward Scissorhands for the first time and like all independent Tim Burton movies I hated the ending; too bittersweet. So I decided to make up my own the way fans of the movie wanted the story to end. So I asked myself how I Would accomplish such a thing and then it hit me: a crossover. And before you all ask why this isn't registered in the crossover section I will clarify, most of my readers are Ghost Hunt fans who don't have me on author alert. Therefore, it's posted under solely the Ghost Hunt fandom for now, though if I get enough calls I will post a second version (same story) under the crossover section as well.

Disclaimer: seriously is it just me or is Tim Burton's imagination just the best playground for the Ghost Hunt characters? Anyways, I don not own the rights to Ghost Hunt or Edward Scissorhands, though I do take credit for being the first (as of the publish date) to use them in a crossover.

Also, please let me know how I did with these characters and their interactions as this is my first fic involving Edward and his friends.

* * *

If asked how to describe her feelings at the moment she could only sum it up as excited, no wait; make that nervous, wait; make that excited _and_ nervous. After all, it wasn't every day that one left the country they were born and raised in to go halfway across the world, well they did, but it was the principle of the importance of this trip that was the point. Seventeen year-old Mai Taniyama was excited; she was going to America to meet her pen pal at last. Sure they had exchanged letter, texts, and emails before, but there was always something about meeting someone in person for the first time. She was excited, and nervous because this would not only be her first time out of the country, but also the first time she would be speaking American English. Her friends and school had prepped her as best they could but she hoped she didn't mess anything up. It would be completely and utterly mortifying to mess up speaking when she'd been schooled in it practically her whole life. Shaking off any negative thoughts Mai mentally steeled herself for boarding, she wouldn't be taking her friends/surrogate family and teammates with her this time. She was all on her own; and she just hoped she could avoid getting into too much trouble. Mai stopped and thought about that for a moment; that was probably impossible because it seemed that trouble followed Mai around like a black cat, or her own shadow more accurately. Hearing the call for her flight number Mai stood and gripped her carry-on, the only bag she had with her, tightly. Taking another deep breath, she bid Japan goodbye stepping onto the boarding bridge. Next stop; the USA.

The flight itself was not uncomfortable, if a little bumpy, but Mai was used to worse conditions from her job. She came out into an international airport and looked around. There, standing with a huge sign over her head written in perfect kanji with the words 'Welcome Mai' was her pen pal. Mai giggled, Raven was a true friend, even if she was always halfway around the world. Mai raced over to the dark tinted brunette and gave her a big hug.

"Raven?" Mai asked, hoping her accent wouldn't come out too heavy from speaking mostly Japanese her whole life.

"Hai." Raven replied, using a language Mai knew her English companion wasn't very good at to ease some of the tension. "I'm so glad to finally meet you Mai." She said pulling back from the embrace. "How was your flight?"

"A bit bumpy, but I slept through most of it." Mai answered. And it was true; Mai had specifically taken some sleeping pills before boarding the plane so she would fall asleep fast and not have to deal with the jetlag and the time difference. She was here to have fun with her friend and she didn't want to waste a single moment.

"Cool, so you have all your bags?" Raven asked. Mai nodded. "Awesome, let's head to the car and get on our way, but I have to warn you my home's a few hours away, so it'll be pretty late when we get there."

"It's fine, let's go." Mai said grabbing the other girl's arm and letting her lead the way.

* * *

Raven had been right; it had been a _long_ drive. So long in fact, that Mai had fallen asleep halfway through the journey.

"Hey Mai." Raven whispered, nudging the pixie-cut girl in the shoulder. "Mai, wake up. We're here."

Mai stirred. "Hm?" she whimpered groggily as she stretched in the limited space of the passenger seat. When she was more fully aware of her surroundings she bolted upright, just shy of hitting her face with the windshield. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry I fell asleep. Oh man!"

Raven laughed as she got out of the car. "Calm down Mai, it's alright; I told you we had a long car ride ahead of us. And if I'd been in your position I'd've done the same thing. Anyways, we're here." She gestured around at the rows of houses in all odd pastel colors -or that at least that _looked_ like pastels- in the twilight. "Welcome to Suburbia, population; me and a few other rooted families who're too cheap to move."

Mai laughed at her friend's joke. "Well, it certainly seems like a nice place to live. It certainly isn't anything like Tokyo at all."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Raven jibbed. "Come on, let's get your bags inside and get some sleep, I don't know about you but I'm absolutely beat."

"Right," Mai agreed, pulling her bag from the floor and following Raven in.

"So, here's your room, sorry if it's a little childish. I used to sleep here when I stayed over. Back then this was my grandma's house and she used to watch me here all the time." Raven explained, flicking the lights on to reveal a yellow walled room with a little bed set in the corner and a rocking chair pulled up next to it.

"What happened? To your grandma I mean?" Mai asked, not wanting to pry but curious nonetheless.

"Oh nothing." Raven shrugged it off. "I just got tired of living with my parents, always on the move from one city to the next. I wanted to stay here since I love my grandma so much is all. I have the room across the hall and my grandma has the master bedroom. That's the way things worked out, but you'll have no problem fitting in. I promise." And with that, Raven left Mai to get comfortable in the old childhood bedroom.

It was at some ungodly hour in either the late evening or early morning that Mai found herself too hot for comfort. She got up and ventured out into the living room to get a little fresh air, when movement outside the sliding glass door caught her eye. Walking closer to it she saw a little old lady dancing in the backyard in a flurry of powder; twirling in an old knee-length white dress with several pink stains across the right side and brown stains at the hem. Her white hair loose and trailing past her shoulders as she spun, a look of pure contentment etched upon her face. But there was something else there too; a look of longing, of something lost, something precious. Mai stood transfixed by the sight before remembering something; Raven and her grandmother lived in the southern part of the United States, there shouldn't be any snow here even if it was close to Christmas time. Mai quickly wandered back to her room, hoping that this was all just some weird dream, one that would be promptly forgotten come waking up in the morning.

* * *

It didn't. Why was it some of the best dreams we ever have are always forgotten upon waking, yet the nightmares or the weird ones are stuck with us forever? When Mai came out for breakfast the next morning Raven was already sitting at the dining room table; breakfast in front of her.

"Morning Mai." She said cheerily.

"Morning." Mai said through a yawn, searching through the cabinets for something to eat.

"Rough night?" Raven asked.

"I had a weird dream." Mai replied. "Not like that's any different from usual but still."

"What was it about?"

"I saw an old lady dancing in a white dress in a little snow fall. She was just spinning around and around. It was weird. Hey, where's your grandmother?"

"Went out on some errands." Raven replied. "But I thought she'd stopped doing that years ago." She muttered, almost as if it was added as an afterthought.

"Stopped doing what years ago?" Mai asked.

"Dancing in the special snow." Raven answered. "She says she's done it ever since she was a senior in high school. And whenever it does that during the winter she always puts on this dress and goes out and dances in it."

"That's exactly what I saw!" Mai exclaimed. "But why does she do that?"

Raven shrugged. "There's a story behind it, but it's been years since I last heard it. All I remember is that it has something to do with the manor up on the hill at the edge of town. Creepy thing, I've always and to this day believe it's haunted." She said with a shudder, pointing out the window where on top of a large hill at the other end of town stood an imposing and all over creepy manor.

"What!?" Mai was freaking, she honestly couldn't believe this. "There's a creepy decrepit manor in town that could possibly be haunted and you _didn't_ tell me? Why not?"

"Because you're here on _vacation_, to spend time with _me_, not go exploring some creepy abandoned house on top of a hill Mai. Remember?" Raven replied irately. "And even if I had told you, you don't have the equipment or expertise necessary to explore it."

"I would have borrowed some stuff from work." Mai rebutted. "But I still want to go exploring before I leave. You said there was a story behind that manor and why it's haunted, does your grandmother still know it?"

"She _lived_ it Mai, I don't think it's possible for her to ever forget it." Raven replied, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning.

"What's wrong?" Mai asked. "I'm still going to spend time with you, but you know how excited I get when there could be ghosts involved."

Raven sighed. "I know, it's just; the old place has been falling apart since my grandma was our age. I just don't want anything bad to happen."

"Unfortunately, something bad will happen regardless of whether or not I go in the manor, but at least if I _do_ go in I'll get hurt doing something productive. And besides, my boss only let me take this vacation because I told him I'd see if I could gather any info about any haunted places I came across."

"Really? What a stick in the mud." Raven snorted.

"Yeah, that describes Naru to a 'T' alright." Mai replied, laughing slightly. "Hey, do you think your grandmother could tell us the story when she gets back?"

"We'll just have to wait and see…" Raven answered.

A few hours later, Raven's grandmother came back from running errands. Mai and Raven had been passing the time by playing card games, charades, and even hangman as Mai couldn't understand a lot of the American shows and Raven just didn't feel like channel surfing to find one she liked, explain it, and possibly have to keep searching if Mai didn't like it.

"Hi girls, what would you like for lunch?" the old woman asked, sauntering into the kitchen with an armload of groceries.

"Pizza Gramma!" Raven called. Mai had never had pizza before and was therefore content to try it.

"Alright!" the grandmother called back.

Twenty minutes later the pizza was finished cooking, and ten minutes after that it was completely gone. Mai had thoroughly enjoyed it and wanted more, but first.

"Um, Mrs…" Mai trailed off as she realized that she didn't actually know the old woman's last name

"Ms. Boggs dear." The old woman replied. "I changed my name back after my divorce all those years ago, but I'd already had Raven's mother so I didn't have time to find another man, not like I wanted one anyways."

"Right, Ms. Boggs, Raven here said you know about why snow falls here even though it shouldn't. Could you tell me that story?"

"Oh?" the old woman looked startled. "And how would you know if snow falls here even if it shouldn't?"

"I saw you dancing in it last night." Mai replied frankly. "So could you tell us what happened?"

Ms. Boggs sighed, "I suppose so, but not tonight. I'm a little worn out from everything and I'd rather just make an easy dinner and go to bed."

"Fair enough." Mai agreed. "But please tell me soon."

* * *

Raven's grandmother had managed to put it off for two days before Mai confronted her again.

"Please, could you tell me the story?" she asked one afternoon. "I really want to know, I love stories."

Ms. Boggs sighed. "Alright but I doubt you'll believe it. It's one of the oddest things I believe to ever have occurred here in Suburbia." She turned to Raven. "Could you get my rocking chair dear?"

"Yes Gramma." Raven replied, getting up and returning a few minutes later with the rocking chair from Mai's room.

"Ah, that's better." Ms. Boggs said settling in and beginning to rock. "Well now, where to begin?"

"I think the very beginning would be best." Mai chimed in.

"Alright, alright; let's see…" the old woman closed her eyes momentarily, searching for the right words. "Once upon a time in a castle high on a hill there lived an inventor. He made many great things I suppose, but his greatest creation was a man…"

* * *

By the time Kim Boggs had finished it was already nighttime. Mai had sat on her knees the whole time, listening with awe at the old woman's story. It had been teeming with life and brimming with detail, every word spoken eloquently and yet at the same time simply. Mai had almost felt as if she had been actually _watching_ the events unfold as the story went on. She felt pity for Edward, who only wanted to be accepted and loved without any strings attached. She felt anger towards Mrs. Monroe, a southern tart with no sense of decency and morals for marriage. But she felt the most loathsome, the most rancor towards Esmeralda, a religiously prejudiced bigot, and Jim, Kim's ex-boyfriend; who had outcasted, ostracized, and saw Edward as nothing more than a freak or tool from the very start. Saying that Edward had had the devil in him, had been the spawn of Satan. What a load of crock!

Be that as it may, Mai felt whatever rage was left directed at Kim herself.

"Why didn't you stay with him?" she asked.

"I couldn't." Kim replied. "We may have loved each other, but I didn't belong in his world, and he didn't belong in mine."

"But you could have gone back! Even now you can still go back!" Mai protested.

Kim shook her head. "I don't want him to see me like this. I'd much rather he remember me as I was, the girl that loved him with all her heart, however briefly we may have loved each other."

Mai bent her head to stare at the floor, bangs shadowing her eyes. "Then how can you say you loved him?" she asked bitingly.

"What?" Kim seemed taken aback at the normally cheery girl's suddenly dark attitude.

"How can you say you were truly in love with him if you just left him behind like that? He fought for you, didn't lift a blade against Jim until you'd gotten hurt! You lied to protect him and then left him there all alone! How can you say you loved him if you didn't even make an effort to be with him?"

"Mai!" Raven cut in, more than a little upset at the way her friend was talking to her grandmother that way. Mai was too far gone by now and completely ignored her.

"I know time changes things; people grow up and die, cities and landscapes change, communications and technology are getting more and more advanced. But if there's one thing I know time doesn't change its true love, and though I'm younger I speak from experience."

It was true, she had confessed to her boss and been rejected, but she still loved him with all that she had, even if she couldn't show it often and her pissed her off to no end sometimes. His rejection, and the year that had passed since then, hadn't changed her feelings for her boss. And from what she'd seen on the old woman's face that night, the years hadn't changed what she felt for Edward Scissorhands, the machine made man.

"So you shouldn't have given up on him! You should have tried to find a way to make it work!" Mai had finished her rant, and by that point she was red in the face from the exertion her speech had taken out of her.

"Mai!" Raven yelled, grabbing the brunette by the arm and dragging her back several feet from the old lady's face, where Mai had kept going up to in her tirade. "You don't say stuff to your elders like that! What were you thinking?"

Mai realized the extent of what she had just done and her face heated up once more, this time in shame and total embarrassment. She hung her head again and stared at the floor, but before she could even think of how to begin to apologize Kim spoke out.

"No, she's right." They heard her say in a shaky voice, sounding much more her age in that moment then she had the whole time Mai had been there and the whole time Raven had ever known her.

"What?" Mai snapped up to look at the woman, still rocking away in the chair. Only her eyes were focused outside on the night sky.

"Gramma?" Raven asked, hesitantly putting a hand out toward her.

"Your friend is right Raven. I should have fought for him. I'd never stopped loving him all that time, even when I'd married your grandfather. In retrospect, he was actually an imitation of Edward, even had a similar sounding name too…"

"That's right; Granpa's first name is Edmond right?" Raven asked.

"Yes, who was I trying to fool?" Kim let out a mirthless chuckle looking down at her hands, which had laced themselves together. "Even though I loved Edward I made up reasons not to go to him. It was too risky and the neighbors might find out, he can't ever hold me the way he would want to and it would only hurt him more, it's just a teenager's love for something different and it'll pass eventually. These and more I told myself, thinking it was just a phase, thinking it would pass if I didn't dwell on it. Oh how deluded I was…" she looked out at the night sky again before turning back to the two girls.

"Gramma?" Raven asked again.

Kim continued as if she hadn't even heard her granddaughter. "You know," she said looking back down at her hands. "If I could take it all back and do it over again; I'd choose him. I'd stay with him no matter what. I'd fight to be with the man I love. He might never have said it but he loved me too. Still does love me if the snow over just my house is any indication."

"But you can't take it all back and do it over." Raven pointed out. "All you can do now is swallow your pride and go and see him one last time."

"I know, I know." Kim replied. "But I can't make the journey now, I'm too old. I just wish I could have made things right when I had the chance."

There was silence in the room after that. No one knew what to say, and everyone knew there was no way to break up this atmosphere without turning it completely and utterly awkward forevermore. So they let it linger until it marginally lightened on its own.

Raven faked a big yawn and stretched. "Well, I think it's time to hit the hay, right Gramma?"

The old woman looked up, blinking as if coming out of a daze. "Oh, yes. Goodnight girls." She said, rising from the chair and wandering to her room, the door closing softly behind her.

"Night Mai." Raven said as she too disappeared.

Mai turned off the lamp the other two had left on in their haste to exit the room and went to stare out at the sky. She closed her eyes, a star fell, and Mai too made a wish.

"_I wish I could help make things right."_

* * *

Mai woke up earlier than normal the next morning, feeling more than a little somber about the whole debacle of last night. Raven and her grandmother hadn't even come out of their rooms yet. Sighing Mai made her way to the cabinet to grab herself a bowl of cereal and a cup of tea. She was pretty sure that Ms. Boggs was still strung up over the whole thing and that Raven was still slightly mad at her for initiating it. Sighing once more she ate her breakfast in silence.

When she was finished Mai quickly cleaned up her evidence of being there and returned to her room. She packed a few necessities in a fanny pack and set off. She knew where she was going and had the sneaking suspicion the others would too if she left without a word. So she'd written a note saying she'd gone to check out some of the sites Raven had told her about via letter/email/texts they'd previously exchanged. She knew they probably wouldn't buy that either but it made her feel better thinking she'd at least attempted to fool them as to where she was going to be that day.

On her way to her destination she ran across the town's graveyard. Looking around and seeing that no one else was out yet, -it had been _really_ early when she'd gotten up and headed out, the events of the previous night making it near impossible to get a more restful sleep- she ducked inside. There was some retribution in order for everything poor Edward had suffered through and though Mai had no plans to do anything that would land her in jail; she was going to at least make her anger known. As she had been up so early Mai had taken into account the names of all the people that had been less than human to a man more human than all of them, despite the fact that he was not in all actuality entirely human. She had written them down and made a list. And she followed that list around the cemetery, matching every name on the list with a headstone and then spitting on it. Even though the way they'd been acting back then deserved much, much worse. She wanted to smash them all and erase them from the town's history, despicable excuses for people they were. But she restrained herself, spitting was quite enough desecration for now. See? Mai was actually still being kind and merciful, even in her anger.

Once that was completed Mai continued her main outing for the day. Edward. She was going to see him, alive or dead she was. She wanted him to know that Kim still did love him and she wanted to try and bring him down to see her one last time. Mai had a feeling it wouldn't be easy, but she hoped she could convince him to do so.

The walk up the hill was somewhat excruciating to someone who did not exercise properly, thankfully Mai's regular job kept her plenty fit, though at times running from ghosts did not seem like it would do any good since they could appear and disappear from rooms at will. Reaching beyond the second gate Mai stopped to admire the topiaries; Edward was quite skilled she had to admit. And his sense of irony was unmatchable, as evidenced by the gigantic hand which took center stage in the garden.

Easily she reached the door, sidestepping the scissored hand that looked so much like Edward's and what Kim had used to make the mob believe he was dead and knocked; still polite even going through with all of this did not really warrant her to be. Hearing no response Mai pushed on the door and winced as it creaked open. In any story or movie she'd ever known the door creaking as it opened was never a good sign. Mai shook off her slight fear and looked around. Nothing much seemed changed from what Kim had described the place to look like years ago and Mai immediately took the long winding staircase up to the attic; Edward's domain as of the last time anyone had ever seen him.

"Hello?" she called, not wanting to frighten him. "Is there anyone here?" she pretended to be clueless; it simply would not do for him to expect someone who knew him was coming only to be confronted by a complete and total stranger.

All too soon Mai was inside the attic, facing the giant hole in the wall and then the smashed window through which Jim had fallen to his rightly deserved death. Attacking a gentleman like Edward, and then someone he supposedly cared about. In any case it was clear what he had cared about then.

Mai looked around once more, she didn't see him, but she would call out one more time.

"Hello? Is there anyone here?" no answer. Shrugging Mai glanced over at the chimney in the room, which contained Edward's bed and all of his collage clippings. She stepped closer to the hole and looked out of it; you really could see the ocean from this view. Just barely, but it was still there. Mai just stood there a few moments admiring the view when she became vaguely aware of the soft, yet sharp sounds of snipping behind her.

Mai slowly turned to come face to face with the man Kim Boggs had fallen in love with years ago. And Mai could honestly see why. He was substantially tall; lean yet muscled, but not too defined. Ebony locks in a wild disarray, Mai could now see why her friend's name was Raven, Kim's child had been told the story and had become so fascinated with it they named their child after the color of Edward's hair, probably the second oddest thing about him, after his… _hands_ of course. But what Mai found most outstanding about him was his face. Pale skin untouched by the sun. Dark, nearly hollowed eyes that looked almost black in the dim lighting. A small drawn mouth. Even with the scars, or maybe perhaps _because_ of the scars he was beautiful.

"Who are you?" he asked in a soft voice, completely annunciating each word perfectly. His eyes locked with hers; betraying his fear, yet though Mai knew she had mental control over the situation she also knew that the tables could very quickly turn.

"I'm…" she hesitated. Did she say she knew Kim? Or would that hurt him too much? "a friend." She finished lamely.

"A friend?" Edward repeated warily. "Police?"

"No!" Mai said quickly, nearly jumping in her haste. Edward fell back a step. "I mean, no" she said more serenely. "There's no police, I'm not here to lock you away. I promise." Thank goodness, her days with Raven and Kim had decreased her accent enough that she could be understood by him. "I, I want to talk to you. You're the one they call Edward right? Edward Scissorhands?"

Edward looked down, presumably at his hands for a moment before holding them up to the light. He nodded mutely.

"Of-of course, how stupid of me to assume otherwise…" Mai chided herself, feeling completely foolish despite the fact that she had known the whole time whom he was and what he looked like.

"It's okay," Edward replied softly, not moving his hands from their position.

Mai gazed over the blades, eyes lighting up with intrigue and interest.

"Wow! That's amazing!" she said, bringing her hands up, one to cup one of his while the other trailed along one of the fingers lightly.

"Really?" he asked, watching her handle him with a care and gentleness he'd not felt since the first time Peg had brought him to Suburbia.

"Really!" Mai exclaimed, tipping her gaze to meet his and her index finger finishing its trek down the blade.

Edward drew his hand up to look at it; he saw a thin coating of red along the finger Mai had touched. Immediately he drew up his hands, blades facing towards the floor, and backed away.

"What's wrong?" Mai asked concern evident in her expression and voice.

"No good." Edward muttered, still backing away and even trying to turn around; ingrained etiquette preventing him from succeeding.

"What's no good?" Mai asked, advancing even as he retreated.

"Monster." He said looking away from her eyes.

"Monst- Oh Edward you're not a monster." Mai soothed.

Edward shook his head at her response. "Yes," he replied. "Yes,"

"Why would you think that?" Mai asked him as he backed himself into a wall.

"Hurt." He said, pointedly looking at Mai's hands.

"Hurt? I'm not-" Mai cut herself off as she saw a small cut on the tip of her index finger, right where she had trailed the blade of Edward's. "Oh, did I do this?" she asked, looking back up at him. "I hadn't even realized. Edward it's not your fault, I chose to touch the blade, besides it's just a whole lot of blood; the scratch isn't even that deep. It'll be fine in a moment." Mai rummaged around in her fanny pack for a few moments before finding what she was looking for. "Here we are." she announced, pulling out a Band-Aid and ripping it open. "Good as new see?" she told him once the Band-Aid had successfully covered her small wound.

Edward gazed at the cloth covered fingertip. "Okay?" he asked.

Mai nodded. "Yes, okay. Oh, I almost forgot; my name is Mai."

"Mai?" Edward repeated.

"Yes, oh Edward why would you think you're a monster?" Mai replied. Edward looked down at his hands. "Having those doesn't make you a monster, a monster isn't made out of scissors for hands. Well I mean, they _can_, but that's besides the point. A monster doesn't have the kind heart you possess, that's why you're not a monster. And to be completely honest, I wish I had hands like yours," Mai said turning and walking away slightly. "At least then I wouldn't feel so weak." She muttered to the floor.

"Weak?" Edward asked.

"Yeah weak." Mai said, nodding in agreement. "Where I, my job often gets me hurt a lot, and I can never do anything to protect myself. In fact sometimes it feels like the only thing I'm good for is making tea and being ghost bait. But if I had hands like yours, it'd be different. Oh I just _know_ it would."

"Different?"

"Yes different." Mai sighed. "At least then I'd feel like I could be a little of actual use. As I am I'm so danger prone that-" she cut herself off and looked at Edward. "Do you see this bracelet I have?" she asked him, holding up a wrist and fingering the chain-link piece of jewelry that wrapped around it. It had several small baubles hanging from it, each different colors with different marks on them. "This charm bracelet was given to me by my friends back home. All of these charms are supposed to protect me from getting hurt. And I guess it worked if I couldn't even feel the little paper cut you accidentally gave me."

"Really?" Edward asked, hope seeping through his tone. "You're, okay?"

"Yes Edward, I'm fine, really." Mai assured him. "And you're not a monster; in fact you couldn't be farther from it. You're so beautiful, you remind me of a porcelain doll!" she exclaimed, and then flushed. "Excuse me, I forgot myself for a moment there."

"It's okay." Edward told her.

"Really?" Mai asked. Edward nodded. "Oh good, I'm so glad. Now, while I'm here there's something I wanted to ask you."

"What?" Edward asked her.

"I," Mai hesitated, could she really ask him to do this? "I'm a friend of Kim's" she started out. "and I want you to come down with me and see her."

"Kim?" Edward asked, his eyes positively lighting up at the sound of his beloved's name.

"Yes, do you want to go down and see her?" Mai asked him.

"Yes," Edward replied, looking at Mai in earnest for a moment or two before his expression turned south and he glanced out the shattered window. "Police." He muttered, walking towards it.

"No, I promise no one's going to get you. All those people down there who did those things to you, they're dead now." Mai told him softly, walking up behind him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Dead?" Edward asked, as if he didn't know what the word meant, and he probably didn't.

"Yes you know um, they, they fell asleep, and never woke up." Mai replied, she cringed at how she had to explain this to him but she also wanted to make sure that he knew no one was going to hurt him now. "Kim isn't the same either, she's the only one left, so you know you'll be safe. But, Kim's not going to be here forever, so I thought you might want to see her one last time."

Edward looked at her for a moment before resuming his vigil at the window. There were a few minutes of contemplated silence before he whispered. "Yes,"

Mai beamed. "Alright then, let's go Edward." She said taking him by the arm and walking with him to the stairs. "Oh, I almost forgot!" she exclaimed leaving him at the doorway. She ran to the middle of the room and picked up the bandage wrapper she'd carelessly let drop to the floor in her haste to comfort Edward about her accident. Edward followed her back inside and now stood next to her. "I'd feel bad if I left this laying around." She explained, momentarily glancing at him before putting the trash back in her pack. "Okay, now we can go." They had just started to walk over again when they heard a creaking sound from up above them. Mai looked up to see several small cracks in the roof edging around a rather large piece; the cracking sound was the sound of breaking plaster. And Mai realized a little too late what was about to happen. "Edward look out!" she cried as she pushed him out of the way. Trying to get herself to safety Mai'd only taken a few steps forward when the piece of the ceiling broke free and hit her in the back of the head, jolting it forward with her neck. All she could see was Edward looking on in horror, knowing he couldn't help without causing more pain. "Edward," she breathed out, her hand stretching out towards him, though he now seemed miles away as the momentum from the blow sent her reeling forward. Her vision faded into shapes, then shadows, and finally; the world around her went black.

* * *

Tossing, turning, and groaning all the while Mai opened her eyes to find herself lying in that black space with all those floating lights again.

"Where am I?" she asked, sitting up slightly and holding a hand to her head.

"Where do you think you are?" a familiar voice asked. And Mai turned to see a familiar face smiling at her teasingly.

"Gene!" Mai cried.

Gene nodded. "That was quite a nasty bump to the head you took." He informed her. "I don't think that charm bracelet of yours is working."

"Ha ha, very funny." Mai muttered. "So what am I doing here?" she asked him.

"You made a wish did you not?" Gene asked in reply.

"I did?"

"You did, and I suppose there is some evidence of a higher power for the mortal world since now it's being granted. Stand up and get ready." He told her, pulling her to her feet.

The scenery around them was starting to change and it looked like the outer garden of Edward's house, it was as if she'd never even gone inside. But it was nighttime now, and a teenage girl stood in front of the entrance to the manor, holding up a scissor-like instrument that looked eerily like Edward's hand.

"Gene? Where are we?" Mai asked, looking around and seeing no sign of her ghostly friend and guide.

"You_ are back on that night, the last time Edward and Kim ever saw one another. You made your wish to set things right, now's your chance."_ She heard him echo in her mind.

"But isn't this only a post-cognitive dream? I can't change anything here." Mai replied, whispering though she couldn't explain her reason for doing so.

"_Normally that would be the case, but that was an extent of only your powers. Right now, your being here is not just an extent of your powers, but also a sort of mystical aid from far beyond your comprehension. I don't know how far you will interact with the past but at least for now let's observe and see where we can find an opening to change things."_

"Right." Mai replied, turning her attention back to the girl on the porch.

"See?" she asked, holding it up. Mai recognized the dress even with the fresh stains; this was a much younger Kim Boggs.

The mob gasped, and melancholy looks crossed their faces. Mai snorted, sure they felt bad now, but did they really care? It seemed to her like Edward had merely been a convenience, an interest that was now gone. In time they would forget. As the mob dispersed, Kim let the hand holding the contraption fall limp to her side, before dropping it altogether.

"It's so sad." Mai said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Kim perked her head up and looked over in Mai's direction. "Who's there?" she called.

The dispersing mob heard the call and came scurrying back.

"_Go on Mai," _Gene encouraged. _"see what you can do."_

"Um, I am." Mai answered, stepping out of the shadows cast by one of the topiaries.

"Who are you?" Kim asked, followed by several murmurs of agreement from the crowd.

"Me?" Mai struggled to answer. She couldn't very well tell them she was from the future; that would just be too bizarre, even for this town. She contemplated it before a very devious idea came up, much like one had when she helped that ghost in the park teach her unfaithful boyfriend some manners. Why not? It would teach them all a lesson and get her point across. "Me?" she repeated, walking up the porch steps and crossing behind Kim. Mai chuckled lowly, a hollow sound resonating throughout the otherwise silent yard. "I'm nobody." She replied.

"Oh come now," said one of the women in the crowd. "surely you have to have a name at least."

"I already told you, I'm Nobody. Nobody important at least." Mai told them.

"Nobody important?" said another woman.

"No, just an observer." Mai replied.

"An observer? Of what?" this time it was Joyce Monroe who asked the question, and Mai hung her head to let a positively _evil_ smile make its way across her face.

"Everything." Mai answered, not elaborating more to let the double entendre sink in with the thick skulled woman. Another thought occurred to the brunette; in her opinion, music was always the best way to explain something. And a movie she and Raven had watched earlier that week brought the perfect song to mind. Mai knelt to the ground and picked up the scissor hand.

"_Look at the innocent blood you have spilt, on the steps of Notre Dame_." She sang, cradling the object reverently.

"What?" the mob asked.

Mai stood and with the hand pointed to Jim's body. _"Now you will add that boy's blood to the guilt, on the steps of Notre Dame."_

"What do you mean?" the mob cried.

"This is ridiculous, the girl's crazy." Joyce declared.

'_Perfect'_ Mai thought. She looked towards the cigarette smoking woman. "You said he raped you?" she asked.

Joyce flushed. "He tried to; I got away before he could thank heavens." The crowd murmured its assent in this story.

"I see; may I see your hands?" Mai asked the woman, sticking the hand into the stone wall with little effort put into making it stay there and walking towards her slightly.

"My-my hands? Why?" Joyce asked her.

"I've always admired them; it'd be nice to see them up close." Mai was lying through her teeth, but if she didn't set things between Kim and Edward right, at least she would make it so that Edward's former reputation was at least a little less blemished.

"Alright, just don't chip them." Joyce held her hands out in a somewhat zombie-like claw position, showcasing her nails in full glory.

"Just as I thought, they're wonderful." Mai said in an awed tone she'd forced herself to have. Hoping she didn't faze right through them she grasped at the woman. They held, solid as anything in her own time. Mai took the opportunity to flip the hands over to showcase the palms. "Your palms are lovely too, and so are your wrists. Tell me, have you ever put makeup on them?"

"What? Of course not, that's a waste of good makeup. Why would I do that? Why would anyone do that?" Joyce asked her.

"So you can say, without contradicting yourself, that you've never put makeup anywhere on your body besides your face?" Mai continued, not bothering to answer the questions she'd been asked.

"Of course." Joyce agreed.

"Then you've just incriminated yourself." Mai informed her.

"Against what?" Joyce asked.

"You see," Mai continued. "blades are really, _really_ sharp things. Don't you think so? Edward's especially since they'd needed to be for all cutting he'd done. They can cut through soft delicate flesh like yours so easily, like a knife through hot butter. Your claims of Edward's attempted rape upon you were lies, and you've just proven it."

"What do you mean?" Joyce asked, suddenly getting defensive about what the girl was saying.

"Well, you said he tried to rape you, meaning it wasn't consensual yes? But that also means you would have tried to fight back, but that would mean he would have had to hold down your hands with his own; also meaning that you would have had cuts on your palms, wrists, and arms. Wrists, and the lower half of the forearms are where major veins are easily accessible, meaning it's easier to draw blood from them and when someone suffers an injury there the most blood will come out. It also is the place where it takes longest to heal once there _is_ an injury there, and it certainly takes longer than two weeks for the wound to scar over and fade away. Yet you have none; not on your palms, wrists, or forearms and you have also already said under a statement that you were _not_ contradicting yourself that you have never used makeup on any part of your body besides your face; meaning that the incident was either consensual, which it couldn't be since you've said several times over that he tried to rape you, or that it simply didn't happen at all."

"What?" Joyce by this point was positively livid, this little chit of a girl was threatening to tear her whole reputation apart, and she could see in her eyes that the girl knew already and was doing this on purpose. "And how would _you_ know all that hm?"

Mai gave a mirthless smile and raised the underside of her forearms up to the crowd. The mob gasped, as there on her pale flesh were several marks all near her wrists, and the lower half of her arm. "I got these a month ago and they're only just starting to heal over. And before you ask I did _not_ purposely try to open a vein. I just have a bad habit of being in the wrong place at the right time. Falling through the hole in a splintered old hardwood floor will cause more than a few scratches you know." She wasn't lying, a month before she was supposed to go on vacation and visit her pen pal the team had had a particularly long case which included a very vicious and nasty spirit whose favorite pastime was creating craters in the floors right under people's feet. Mai had been one of the first unlucky victims this trick had been played on. Luckily that was about the extent of the damage she had received on that case. Returning to the present matter at hand she turned to Joyce again. "So will you admit it? You weren't telling the truth that day."

"No, there really was an attempt of rape!" Joyce protested, wanting the crowd to believe her.

"I know," Mai replied casually, buffing her fingernails on her shirt and looking at them as if she wasn't wrecking the life of a middle aged seductress. "It just happened the other way 'round, didn't it?" the crowd gasped at the audacious claim and Mai looked up at them. "Oh come on, you all say you knew Edward, would he really have been the type to do such a thing to a woman he called a friend? The psychiatrist already said he didn't have a concept of our reality, so how would he know a thing about the pleasures of our reality? Not only that, why would he do that when he was already in love with another, _younger_ girl? Don't you already know who?" she ignored the startled gasps and thoughtful murmurs of the crowd. "Oh come on people. It would be completely obvious to anyone with eyes whom his affections lay with, and Mrs. Monroe was _not_ her." Mai glanced pointedly at Kim for a moment before turning back to the crowd.

"No! Edward really did try to rape me! That crazy girl's making things up!" Joyce cried, frantically looking in the crowd for people who believed her. But it seemed that this Nobody's logic was shedding light on what had really happened that day in the empty barber shop. She turned her gaze on her husband, who merely glared in disgust at his wife's infidelity. "It's the truth, I swear I would never be unfaithful!" she exclaimed.

Mai, however, was starting to grow tired with the woman's stubbornness. "Oh? So the plumber and window washers you hired during the day don't count then? I'm not surprised, it's very rare that you find good, _companionship_ in day to day men who have the same tricks pulled on them all the time." No one refuted this claim, since it was true that the woman always had some sort of handyman over while her husband was away. Ignoring Joyce's livid expression she went on to say, "and if I recall correctly; you had, in front of several other neighbors present right now, described Edward's work on your hair 'the single most thrillin' experience of my life'. So, based on that response to merely touching your hair, any other previous _experiences_ just couldn't compare could they? You wanted _more_, and would go to whatever lengths necessary to get it. The only thing you didn't count on was Edward's own love for someone else. He left you high and dry, and to save face in case word ever got around; you switched positions in the story and started telling everyone else first. Your revenge. Now, go ahead, tell me I'm wrong." She challenged.

"Why, you little _peeper_!" Joyce shrilled. "Stickin' your nose into other people's business like that. You ought to be ashamed! How on earth did your parents raise you?" now she was trying to turn the situation around, _again_.

"I believe the word you meant to use was _affairs_, but I will answer your challenge. It's not exactly peeping unless the actions upon which peeping is perceived as occurring are happening behind closed doors _Mrs_. _Monroe_." The brunette ground out, still seething from the crack taken at her parents. "Clearly you have no concept of the meaning of privacy."

"I do so, and I swear I never touched Edward. Never!" now she was just plain delusional, a side effect from telling the story one too many times. Mai sighed, it was such a pity it had to come to this, but now the stubbornness was turning into stupidity; no wonder Naru didn't like to put up with this kind of stuff, it was really aggravating.

"_You can lie to yourself and your neighbors,"_ she ground out, still singing with a passion as her rage at the woman's audacious lies and claims boiled in her blood. _"You can claim that you haven't a qualm. But you never can run from nor hide what you've done from the eyes. The very eyes of Notre Dame."_ She pointed behind her without turning at the gargoyles and other architectural decorations that adorned the outside of the house. And it seemed in that moment, all those cold stone eyes were on Joyce Monroe, reminding her of the truth of what she had tried to do and filling her with shame and embarrassment. She ran away, sobbing in guilt. Her husband followed after her, completely embarrassed at the whole thing.

"But, Edward was a monster in the end." One of the mob had the guts to say. "He wounded Kevin Boggs and murdered Jim." They all looked over at the body of the teenager.

Mai clucked and shook her head. "Edward wounded the boy true, but that was after saving him from nearly being run over by a drunk driver. Needless to say, he didn't kill Jim. Edward only landed that hit on Jim after several continuous minutes of being beat upon by the teenager. Several continuous minutes he didn't even raise a blade to fight back. It was only _after_ Jim had hit and pushed Kim that Edward stabbed him."

"So you admit that you saw Edward kill Jim, you said Jim got stabbed." One of the others chimed in.

"I did say Edward stabbed the boy, yes." Mai agreed, walking over to the body. "But if you look closely you'll notice that the entrance wound, and only wound Edward put on Jim during that final confrontation, is in the stomach. And while yes, that can be a fatal wound if not treated properly, it takes a long time for a person to die from loss of blood, which would have been Jim's cause of death."

"So what _was_ Jim's cause of death?" someone else asked.

Mai pointed directly behind her to the shattered window. "He fell from a second story window onto a hardened ground on top of a hill which has slightly thinner air. It was the blunt impact that killed him as the fight only lasted a few minutes at the most."

"So Edward stabbed him and pushed him out the window?"

"No," Mai shook her head. "Edward stabbed Jim to stop the boy from killing both him and Kim. He retracted his blade; Jim stumbled backwards from shock and fell through the thin glass. Edward couldn't have pushed him because it would have pushed his blades deeper into the body, causing exit wounds as well. There is only one entry wound, and no exit wounds I'm sure."

"What happened?"

"Jim was on a drunk and jealous rampage. This was the fruit of his labors." Mai explained. "He looked so normal too, isn't that ironic?" she asked the crowd. They murmured, but didn't respond. Mai chuckled again and leaned over Jim's body_. "Now here is a riddle to guess if you can, sing the bells of Notre Dame."_ She walked back up to the door in front of the porch. _"What makes a monster, and what makes a man?"_ she looked up to where Edward was supposedly dead_. "Sing the bells of Notre Dame!"_ And with the final note, she spun and pushed on the door inclining her head to Kim to follow momentarily before disappearing into the darkness of the house. The door slamming shut with an air of finality behind her.

* * *

The crowd, still shaken from the night's revelations, dispersed quickly. Kim stood there long after everyone else had gone, trying to absorb what she had just witnessed. A slight creak reminded her that the strange girl; Nobody, she had called herself, was waiting inside for her. Kim gathered up her courage and pushed on the old wooden door.

"Hello?" she called out softly, afraid that someone from the crowd might still be lingering outside.

"You came," the said voice of 'Nobody'. "I thought you wouldn't."

"You made it seem like you wanted to speak to me, so I came." Kim replied, grateful her voice did not betray the fear she felt running through her veins.

"Yes," Nobody answered. "I did want to talk to you."

"About what?" Kim asked.

"What happened." Nobody replied.

"I didn't see you, where were you hiding the whole time?"

"I wasn't."

"Then how did you know all that stuff?"

A pause, and then. "You told me."

"I've never met you before in my life, how could I have told you anything?" maybe Joyce was right for once, this girl couldn't have been completely sane.

"You you may not have told me, but another you did."

"Another me?"

"Yes, another you, from another time. An older you, not happy with the choices she'd made in her life. Forgive me if I seem rude for asking but, do you love Edward?"

"I-" Kim faltered a moment. "Yes, I do." It felt right to admit it to someone else, Edward notwithstanding because he probably didn't fully understand the love she felt for him.

"I see…" another pause, then. "So what are you going to do after tonight?"

"Go back home and get some sleep, graduate, go off to college. You know; normal stuff."

"And Edward?"

"Will be left in peace." Kim replied immediately.

"You?"

"I won't see him again. I can't." Kim said casting her gaze downward.

"Then it sounds to me like you don't really love him." Kim looked up again at Nobody and glared at the brunette.

"I _do_ love him!" she protested vehemently.

"If you did you would make an effort to be with him." Nobody replied. "Leaving him like this, it seems like you don't love him, don't care about him at all. You'll only grow to resent your decision as you grow older. You'll never find happiness with another, trust me."

"How do you know that?"

"Like I said before; you told me. The older you."

"So what are you saying I should do?"

"Find a way to make it work. Find a way to be with him, even if it has to be kept hidden." Nobody answered. "I'm not saying it won't be difficult at first, because it will. But the course of true love never did run smooth you know. Things might truly be meant to be, but they don't always work out all by themselves. You need to put a little effort in too."

"Really?"

"Yes really."

"But-" Kim tried to protest, still think it would be better for Edward in the long run if she just left him alone. Thinking that, if she did go to visit him it would attract unwanted attention and he'd be hunted like a dog, never able to receive a moment's reprieve from the harsh realities of the world.

"No buts." Nobody replied. "I want you to go to him now, and tell him you'll see him again. It would probably be best going late in the evening, during the twilight. It will be just light enough for you to go out for an evening stroll without raising suspicion, and by the time you arrive it will already be dark. No one will see a thing, and you and Edward can be happy together. But the absolute worst thing for you to do would be to leave him completely."

"Do you think it can work?" Kim asked; looking up at the stairwell which she knew would lead to her beloved.

"I cannot know for sure if everything will turn out alright, but I have always believed that if there is a chance, it's best to take it. It might last, or it might not, but either one is better than living in regret for the rest of your life." Nobody replied. There was one last pause, and Nobody said, "But you have my sincerest wishes and hopes that it does. Goodbye." She bid the blonde farewell and walked out the front door, quietly closing it behind her. Kim raced to see the brunette one last time but the view of the yard provided no sight of her. She had just vanished into thin air. Closing the door again Kim took a deep breath before starting up the stairs.

* * *

Mai watched from the shadows as Kim looked out and around for her before closing the door, disappearing behind it.

"Gene?" she called out into the night air. "I think I set things right, now how do I get home?"

"_Close your eyes and let go Mai."_ Gene told her. _"You'll be alright."_

"Okay." She whispered. Mai closed her eyes and let herself fall backwards, just as if she were participating in the trust fall game she played as a child. Still not really believing she wouldn't impact the ground she waited for the thud and dull pain to signal her to open your eyes. Instead,

"Mai, you can open your eyes now." She heard Gene's voice.

Mai did as she was told and opened them. She was lying in the blackness of that space she always met Gene in. "Gene? Did I make things right?" she asked.

Gene smiled. "I believe so, but if you stay any longer you might not be able to go back. It's time to go Mai. Wake up now alright? Wake up. Wake up. Wa-"

"Mai? Mai, wake up now Mai. Come on, we're here." Mai blinked her eyes open to be met with the darkness of nighttime and the realization that she was in a car. Why was she in a car?

"Where, am I?" she asked, peering around in the darkness.

"We're at my house," the voice said. "you fell asleep on the ride from the airport, not that I blame you. It's a long drive from there to Suburbia, and then you've got to add on the fact that my house is on the other side of town on top of a rather large hill. When I was little just leaving down the drive was enough to knock me out."

Mai looked to her left to see a figure sitting next to her, more feminine than she remembered Edward to be, though she wouldn't really know since she'd been knocked out before getting a good look. "Raven?" she asked, still groggy and a little disoriented.

"Of course," Raven replied. "who else would it be?"

"Ah, nothing." Mai said waving her hand in dismissal. "So, I'm going to meet your parents now right?"

Raven shook her head. "Nah, my dad works for this company that's got him moving all the time. So I live with my grandparents."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, come on. Grab your bags and we'll head inside. Gramma's probably made a nice meal and turned the cookie machine on for the occasion."

"Cookie machine?" Mai asked, pulling her carryon out as she slid out the door.

"My Granpa's father invented it. It makes the best sugar cookies in the world." Raven explained. "And that's exactly why Gramma oversees the kitchen. She doesn't want me eating them all the time, says I'd get fat." She snorted.

"That sounds reasonable." Mai replied, taking in the view of the house. "Wow, you live here?" she asked, looking at the decrepit manor that loomed before here.

"Yeah, I didn't tell you about it before because most people get creeped out by it."

"Why didn't you?" Mai asked in surprise. "This place is amazing. Deadly-vu!"

Raven cocked a brow at her friend. "Deadly-vu?" she asked.

Mai flushed. "Ah, I may have been watching some of the old cartoons you sent me before I left." She said fidgeting with her hands.

Raven laughed. "Come on," she said, grabbing Mai by the hand and dragging her through the gate. The two came across a large topiary garden filled with the most amazing hedge sculptures Mai had ever seen.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, eyes lighting up at the things she saw.

"Yeah, my Granpa's kind of suited for yard work, and barber work. He cuts both mine and my Gramma's hair." Raven explained. "Hey, remember I one of my letters I said that my family was kind of weird?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Mai asked, only slightly lying this time. No, she didn't remember but to be fair she often suffered multiple head injuries, technically not her fault if her memory wasn't the best in the world.

"Well I uh," now Raven was the one fiddling with her hands. "please just don't freak out when you meet my Granpa. A lot of people do and he's not a bad guy. Just, different."

"I promise." Mai assured her friend as they passed by the center hedge sculpture, a large hand reaching towards the sky. "And the hand sculpture?" she added on as they passed

"Granpa has the most ironic sense of humor. But he's nice; I really think you two will get along just fine." Raven replied going to the old wooden front door.

Mai made to follow when something caught her eye. "Raven? What's that?" she pointed to something sticking out of the wall.

Raven turned to look at the object. "Oh, my Gramma told me that had to do with an old story about her and Granpa. I can't remember it though; you might want to ask her later."

"O-okay," Mai replied, feeling more than a little uncomfortable about the blade like contraption sticking out of the stone wall and following Raven into the house.

"Gramma, Granpa! We're home!" she called, still walking into the house without any hesitation.

"Raven? Honey is that you?" a wizened voice called. A middle-aged woman stepped from out of nowhere and looked at the girl with concern. In the new lighting Mai noticed that Raven's skin was paler and her hair was much darker than she remembered seeing before falling asleep.

"Yeah Gramma, it's me." Raven replied. "I picked up my pen pal from the airport. Gramma, this is Mai Taniyama. Mai, this is my Gramma; Mrs. Kim Scissorhands."

A look of recognition passed over the woman's face for a brief moment before a warm smile settled there in its stead. Mai mentally kicked herself but made sure a polite smile was still in place. "It's very nice to meet you in person Mai, after hearing so much about you. Well, come to the dining room now, dinner's just about ready." She ushered them into a lavish room set with what would be a banquet's table instead shortened to just the right length for a family. "I'm going to go get your grandfather." Kim told Raven as she walked through the swinging door. "Edward! Dinner!" they heard her voice muffled through the wood.

Mai turned to Raven. "Scissorhands?" she asked.

Raven smiled sheepishly. "They're my mother's parents." She replied by way of explanation. "My dad's folks live out on the West Coast, and they weren't exactly happy about my dad's marriage to my mom. I don't talk to them much." She said with a hint of finality.

"Hey, your grandmother looks pretty young, how old is she?" Mai asked.

"Older than she looks." Raven replied. "Living a life with the person you love can do that I suppose. I know what you mean though; she's fifty-something years old but she doesn't look a day over thirty, thirty-five at the oldest."

"And your grandfather?" Mai pressed.

"The streaks of gray in his hair are the only things that would tell you he's older than thirty too." Raven answered. "But I attribute some of that to the work he does. He does the yard work for the public park, so he's out getting plenty of exercise all the time. Myself, I work in the library and Gramma's like a personal taxi service for us both."

"But you can drive." Mai pointed out.

"Yeah, but I like spending time with my grandparents. That and my Granpa can't physically drive."

"Why?" Mai asked, although she had the sneaking suspicion she already knew why.

Raven's already pale face seemed to lighten a few more shades at the question. "You'll find out soon enough." She muttered lowly.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments until Raven's grandmother bustled back in with a strange man in tow. As Raven had said he did have a few streaks of gray in his mane of wild otherwise ebony hair, but he still looked quite young. He had a doll-like face covered with scars, but be seemed quite happy despite this, if the large smile on his face was any indication.

"Raven." He said, in an unnaturally quiet and chivalrous voice.

"Granpa!" Raven exclaimed, jumping from her seat and rushing to give him a hug. Mai noticed that he kept his arms away from her body, and though the table cut off her view halfway down his upper limbs, she had a bad feeling she already knew what was attached at the ends. "Granpa, this is my pen pal, Mai Taniyama. Mai, this is my Granpa, Edward Scissorhands."

Mai stared at him for a second, before her lips curled into a big smile, she recognized him alright, and was happy he was happy. "It's very nice to meet you Mr. Scissorhands." She said. "Your topiaries are beautiful."

Edward, who had looked uncomfortable at first, was now more at ease. "Thank you." He replied. "I like them too." Of course he wouldn't remember her; she had only first met him in the other world, after it had been too late to change anything.

"Well, shall we all sit down and have dinner?" Kim asked, sitting beside her husband and feeding him like a newlywed would.

"Yes Gramma." Raven replied.

"Of course Mrs. Scissorhands." Mai chimed in, sitting down and enjoying the home-cooked meal that had been prepared.

* * *

"Mai?" Kim had whispered as Mai got up from the table, one of the last to do so besides the woman herself. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

Mai looked around, both Edward and Raven had left, finished with their meal and gone off to do something else. "I guess so…" she replied sitting back down.

Kim took a deep breath and looked at her mostly empty plate before looking back up at the teenager. "You were the one, weren't you?"

Mai froze, but hopefully appeared clam on the surface. "What do you mean Mrs. Scissorhands?" she played dumb, hoping Kim would believe she was mistaken.

"You were the one, all those years ago. The one who saved Edward's reputation, the one who proved Mrs. Monroe was the one who tried to rape Edward, not the other way 'round, the one who made people believe that Edward wasn't ever a monster, just made to seem like one by the people around him. You were Nobody, the one who told me to make it work with him, if I loved him enough. It was you, wasn't it?"

"I-I wasn't alive then Mrs. Scissorhands, how could I have been there?" Mai asked in reply.

"I don't rightly know, but I always believed fate sent you to keep me from making the biggest mistake of my life that night. At first, I had thought you were someone who lived in town, so I looked all over for you. I'd wanted to talk to you, but the years passed and I figured you had to have moved soon after the incident since I couldn't find you. But then you showed up and I found out you were Raven's pen pal, I'm floored and absolutely baffled by how you got there that night, but at the moment and in the long run I really couldn't care _how_ you got there, just that you were there."

"I-Thank you." Mai replied, confessing without saying a word. "But why did you want to talk to me then?"

"I'd wanted to thank you. Since I hadn't gotten a chance to that night." Kim told her. "I followed your advice, went back up and told Edward I would visit him whenever I could. Eventually we were able to convince a minister to marry Edward and I, I assume you already know of his _medical condition_ yes?"

"Yes ma'am." Mai answered. "but I don't think it's a condition, more of a happy circumstance given the current situation."

"True," Kim conceded. "We were married, and raised a family together. I've never been as happy as all the years I've spent here with Edward. I really do love him, and I believe you know what happened had I chose not to stay by him. I don't want to know the possibility, so please don't tell me, it would age me quite terribly just thinking about it."

"I do know ma'am, and I must say that you do look so much younger compared to the other you I had seen." Mai replied. "That's all I'll say about it, since you don't want me to tell you. But while I'm here now I'd like to enjoy my vacation with you all. If that's alright of course."

"Of course it is dear." Kim said. "I consider you family for what you've done, and though it will never be enough to repay you for what you did for Edward and I, it is the least I can do." Standing the old woman carefully made her way around the table to where Mai was sitting and gave her a hug. Mai smiled; standing and accepting the embrace with open arms.

* * *

The rest of the week Mai spent with Raven and her grandparents was bliss. Mai really enjoyed spending time in the manor, found its creepiness endearing. She spent time with Edward; out in the garden watching him clip at the branches or up in the attic shaving away at huge blocks of ice. She spent time with Kim; making cookies on the machine and helping in the kitchen.

"_I do believe that this is the fastest and most fun way to make cookies."_ She said watching the machine work.

"_The inventor made many wonderful things." _Kim had agreed. _"But nothing he made before will ever compare to my Edward."_

She spent time with Raven; just hanging out and relaxing. And she spent time with all the family exploring the manor; seeing the inventor's sketches about how Edward was supposed to progress into a normal man

"_This is incredible."_ she had said as she turned the pages. _"I've never seen anything like this in my life! Your father was a genius wasn't he?"_ she looked to Edward, who merely nodded in reply."You_ really are one of a kind, aren't you Edward?"_ she had asked. Edward looked very and sincerely pleased by that and mutely nodded in response.

In the library taking turns reading and listening to excerpts from the poetry books that lines the massive shelf walls, or even just having meals together. Mai felt like she was living in a family, and when the time came for her to leave she promised to be back by summertime, this visit including all her friends in Japan. She gave each member a large hug before Raven had to drive her back, laughing when Edward had to adjust a few times before having his arms in a proper hug position without posing any danger to her. When they pulled back they smiled at each other and Edward whispered "Thank you." as well, Mai knew what he was talking about and whispered back, "You're welcome." before turning to the car where Raven was already waiting in the driver's seat.

As the two girls drove away from the manor Mai felt a tear trickle down her cheek. She was leaving behind a family, an unconventional one sure, but a family just the same. She would miss them terribly, no matter how excited she was to be going home once again, but she would be back. It wasn't forever she was going away after all.

"Goodbye." She whispered to the window, much as Edward had whispered to Kim the night he believed he would lose her forever, before drying her eyes and focusing on the road ahead.

* * *

There had been crying at the airport as Raven sent her friend off. Mai promised to write as soon as she got home to let the dark-haired girl know she was safe. After a long and particularly uneventful flight through most of which Mai slept she was back in her home country, back in her hometown, yet she still felt slightly lonely without the comforting aura provided by the people she just left. Shrugging Mai went home and slept again, though not before sending the promised message to Raven and her family, and woke up positively refreshed in the morning. It was still one of her days off, but Mai felt the need to be around the presence of people, so she made her way back to SPR. No one else besides Lin and Naru were there yet and so Mai took her place at her own desk and began looking over files which had been left for her return. Getting them done quickly she put on a pot of tea, knowing that would be the best way to approach her boss.

* * *

Naru heard knocking on his office door, he thought it odd, since he was supposed to be the only one here today but told whomever it was to come in anyways. It was Mai, with a cup of tea.

"You're back." He said, unaffected as always but secretly relieved nothing bad had happened to her during her absence.

"Yes, I know I'm not technically supposed to be back until tomorrow, but I wanted to be around friends today so I came in. I made you some tea." She said, placing the cup -his _favorite_ cup- on the desk lightly. "It's Earl Grey, your favorite." She added.

"I see," Naru replied. "have you seen the work I left on your desk for you?" he asked, taking a sip.

"Yes, I filed it already. Is there anything else you need me to do?" Mai asked in reply.

"I'm currently working on some files, they'll be done soon and then you can file them." He told her.

"Okay then. Hey, where is everyone else?"

"Ironically enough, we've not had a case since your departure last week. I saw no need to keep them here in the office unless we did. It would only prove a nuisance."

"Oh…" there was silence for a few minutes. "Okay then." She started to get up and leave when something occurred to her. "Naru, my pen pal lives in this really cool old mansion. I told her I would be back this coming summer with my friends, would you come with me then?"

"Is the manor haunted?"

"I don't know for sure, but it's really creepy and old. There are bound to be a few spirits lurking around." Mai replied.

"Get back to work Mai." Naru told her.

Mai sighed. "Yes boss." And she left the room.

* * *

The day passed slowly from that moment on. Every few hours or so Naru would come out with a stack of papers for Mai to file and she would finish them just in time for him to bring out the next stack. Mai knew he was, in his own way, being kind. She knew it didn't take him that long to finish files and that he was giving her time to properly sort everything out. Eventually though, it was late at night and Mai needed to go home to get ready for work again tomorrow. She went in to tell Naru she was leaving and found him hard at work on yet another stack of papers.

"Naru?" she called. He looked up for a moment. "It's late, and I'm going home now. You should too."

"I function on a lot less sleep than you do Mai. I'll be fine." Naru replied curtly.

"It isn't good for your health though, please." Mai asked, stepping more fully into the room.

"I said I'll be fine Mai, why the concern?"

Mai pinked. "I just don't want anything bad to happen to my friends, and contrary to what you might believe; yes I _do_ consider you a friend." She was now sitting in the chair in front of his desk.

"Mai, your concern is unnecessary. Go home."

"Fine." He hated when she took that tone, it meant she would do as he said now, but he would pay for it later.

Naru sighed and decided to indulge her, after all she had come in a day early and he could finally catch up on all the paperwork from the last few cases. "Alright, I'll go home. Now you should be leaving too."

She wasn't paying attention; she was looking out the window at the night sky. "You really shouldn't be so mean sometimes Naru." she said quietly. "Would you ever want the last thing you said to someone be something cruel?"

"What are you talking about?" that was really philosophical, where was the fifteen year old ditz he'd first met that rainy April afternoon?

"I mean, there really aren't any second chances in life if you think about it. Nothing is ever really the same." She turned from the stars outside the wall of glass and looked at her boss. "If you ever had a second chance, a chance to do things over, is there anything you would change?" she gazed into his eyes for a few moments before seeming to realize something. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was a little too bold right there wasn't I? Well I better get going now." She stood and walked out the door.

Naru just sat there, blankly staring at the space Mai had once occupied only vaguely registering her called out goodnight. His mind was too busy turning over her question. What if he had a second chance to do something over? To make something right again? Would he change things from how they had been? Or would he leave them as they were? This and more he thought over as he closed up the office and went home for the night, Mai's voice echoing all the way.

"_If you ever had a second chance, a chance to do things over and set what's wrong right, would you change them?"_

* * *

So, not as long as my last crossover, but definitely one of my lengthier oneshots. I apologize in advance if Mai seems ooc at any point but I believed her knowing the truth coupled with the devious part of her brain (as evidenced by her plan in episode 11, ghost in the park) lead to her fixing things, and also I just wanted to add a little bit of a musical element to this because otherwise it would be a little too boring. Also, I want to point out that I did mostly focus on Mai in this story since my last one focused on the other teenage characters more than anything. And yes, just for my fans I added a little bit of fluff, not too too much, but a little. Okay, so that's finished. Review please!


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